Gov. Hickenlooper launches new program to assist rural economies
Gov. John Hickenlooper today announced the next phase for the Colorado Blueprint 2.0 – Blueprint Initiatives – which invites the state’s rural communities and regions to apply for specialized resources to help make their economies more robust.
“These initiatives are all outcomes of the informative roundtables we held in communities throughout the state last year,” said Hickenlooper. “We will be deploying the most requested resources across the state through Blueprint Initiatives.”
From March 15 – June 1, 2016, rural Colorado communities and regions can apply for specialized resources from the Colorado Office of Economic Development, other state agencies, and external partners to help address their own unique economic development issues. Regions and communities must apply through their local economic developer to ensure there is broad support in the community for the initiative. Selected communities will be announced in July for site visits accompanying the resources, with additional communities being selected for visits in 2017.
Resources communities can apply for:
- Grow your outdoor recreation industry
- Strengthen your local business brand
- Industry attraction initiative
- Analyze competitive advantages
- Tourism promotion and development
- Incubator/accelerator best practices
- Tiny homes community master plan
- Creative Industries initiative
- Adaptive reuse workshop
- Community-led initiative
Beginning August 1 through the end of 2016, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s (OEDIT) executive director Fiona Arnold and external partners will visit selected sites to connect them to the specialized resources they applied for. Additional visits will take place in 2017.
Interested applicants can visit the Blueprint 2.0 website to learn more about requirements and selection factors that the selection committee will consider when choosing community applications. The website also provides a list of local economic developers to contact about pursuing a Blueprint Initiative application.
For more information, please visit http://www.advancecolorado.com/colorado-blueprint-20. For a direct Blueprint 2.0 contact, please contact Meridith Marshall at meridith.marshall@state.co.us or Brad Revare at brad.revare@state.co.us.